SNAG (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.9|5.0 Starsììì  Snag—mixes flavorings from the United States, Mexico, Italy, and Australia—leads a new 'brand' of gangster movie that surprises and intrigues. One key point of interest is the female lead who dominates criminal activity. This movie raises interesting questions about borders that traditionally define certain genres that this movie does not just expand but smashes through in a remarkable way.  Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline  A man falls in love with a girl from a gangster family and finds himself involved in a fight for their lives.  Additional Thanks Thank you to Director Ben Milliken for directing effort. Thank you to Executive Producer Alastair Burlingham for making the film possible. Cast includes Ben Milliken, Sofia Castro, Johnny Beauchamp, Ana Ortiz, Jeanette Aguilar Harris, CJ. Perry Barnyashev, and Jaime Camil. Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Yes. This movie could be called a cult classic but somehow goes beyond that definition. It's like a new movement in its infancy stage. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

 

THE IRON CLAW (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

 

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 4.3|5.0 Starsìììì  The Iron Claw—tremendous performance by Zac Efron—relies on a great cast to tell a great sports story. Even though the movie shows the tougher side of professional wrestling, it's a unique story that needs to be told. There is some sexual content that is easy to skip. This movie does not follow the Von Erich story exactly (for instance showing five sons instead of six) but it still shows the dominance of the father and the willingness of the sons to follow in his footsteps.   Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline Fritz Von Erich, who is a professional wrestler, retires and  trains his 5 sons to be professional wrestlers.     Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Sean Durkin for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Tesssa Ross, Juliette Howell, Sean Durkin,  Angs Lamont, and Derrin Schlesinger for making the film possible. Cast includes Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Stanley Simons, Holt McCallany, and Lily James. Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Yes. This a great film overall and tells a great story. great acting...realistic. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

SWEETWATER (Released to Internet USA 2023)

 

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì  Sweetwater—biopic—works like a movie made for television rather than a true theatrical release. Even though this movie highlights significant events in this professional's life, it does not provide a high quality, in-depth look at his contributions to the professional basketball game and to the changes that he played in how to play the game. It is written and presented, not as an inspirational story, but as a fact-driven story. It is like all the emotional appeal has been vacuumed out and one is left with a raw, unstimulating piece of art work. Watch for Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss, and Cary Elwes. Their efforts to act in this movie are shaped by the borders that define it with no access to the free spirit that allows any creativity.   Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline  A biopic about Nathaniel 'Sweetwater' Clifton, one of the Globetrotters' basketball players.  Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Martin Guigui for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Josi W. Konski, Tim Moore, Daniel Moorman, and Dahlia Waingort Guigui. Cast includes Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss, and Kevin Pollak.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Maybe. It's a biopic that shows significant events in Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton's life and his contributions, not only to the Globetrotters, but to changing the way basketball is played and who is allowed to play in national championship games. The movie itself seems shallowly done and provides little depth to its narrative. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

 

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.5|5.0 Starsììì  Knights of the Zodiac is an okay film that is not well written and a little convoluted. The characters are given to the audiences with little preparation and not much background or character development.  The acting, presentation, and portrayal are okay/suitable but the story itself seems pointless. It is difficult to decipher its meaning and how to relate that to the human world. It seems like a movie that started in the middle of another film and tried to make a new movie from it.   Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline A couple adopt a girl who is a reincarnation.   Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Tomek Baginski for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Yoshi Ikezawa, Joseph Chou, and Tim Kwok for making the film possible. Cast includes Mackenyu, Famke Janssen, Madison Iseman, Diego Tinoco, Mark Dacascos, Nick Stahl, and Sean Bean.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  No. It is an okay watch for the special effects, but not a scene turner for story. There's no WOW! factor here. The movie lacks originality and that necessary link to the human. An audience will not walk away from this movie and feel like it is memorable or like they've been given something very worthwhile. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

DRAGONKEEPER (Released to Theaters Spain 2024)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.7|5.0 Starsììì  Dragonkeeper—slow and difficult to interpret—does not cross international borders well. It is a Spanish and Chinese collaboration that at times seems written for a teen audience. The movie seems boring and tiring to watch. Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline  A baby girl is given to an elderly servant woman to raise and the baby grows to a young girl who is a special one who can work with dragons.  Additional Thanks  Thank you to Directors Salvador Simo and Li Jianping for directing efforts. Thank you to Producers Larry Levene for making the film possible. Cast includes Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey, Anthony Howell, and Mayalinee Griffiths. Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Maybe. This film is intriguing but it does not cross international borders well. The story feels like it belongs in an anthology, a collection of stories.  Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3—not the best of the three films—gets boring and uninteresting toward the middle and end. When it ends, the audience may feel, "That's finally over." This film is what it is. Film Poster Courtesy of IMDb Storyline After her fathers dies, Toula wants to contact her father's friends in Greece to give them her father's journal of his American experiences.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Nia Vardalos for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and Rita Wilson for making the film possible. Cast includes Joey Fatone, Gia Carides, Lainie Kazan, Elena Kampouris, Andrea Martin, John Corbett, and Louis Mandylor. 

Should You Buy This ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

 Maybe. It is what it is. It tells an okay to suitable story. The movie catches interest in its early stages but fails to keep that in the latter scenes. If a fourth film is planned, it will need to improve significantly over this one to earn its time and money expenditure from an audience. 

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers

BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (Released to Theaters USA 2024)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 4.0|5.0 Starsìììì  Bad Boys: Ride or Die—suitable, not as good as the last two films in the series—is the fourth movie in the Bad Boys lineup.  While the acting is good to suitable, this movie lacks the vibrancy of previous movies almost as if Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are just going through the motions with little attention to detail. But this film, none the less, tells a good enough story that it is worth watching. Be aware that the comedy runs along the lines of previous Bad Boy movies and may not be suitable for the family watch. Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images  Storyline Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are at it again. This time they have to prove that their former police captain was not involved in a drug cartel.   Additional Thanks  Thank you to Directors Adil and Bilall for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith, Chad Oman, and Doug Belgrad for making the film possible.  Cast includes Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nunez, Jacob Scipio.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Yes. It is not great, but it works. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

THE BOY AND THE HERON (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 4.2|5.0 Starsìììì  The Boy and the Heron—underrated Japanese animated film—has 'hidden gem' written all over it. It's so good to have Hayao Miyazaki making the animated films we love. Know the movie has excellent voiceovers and animation. Read a plotline before watching. The last 15 to 20 minutes become very complicated and difficult to follow for younger children. The movie has a PG-13 rating and may serve the teen/adult audience better that the younger audience. The movie has finesse, is exceptionally creative, and leaves its audience with an especially happy ending.   Film Poster Courtesy of IMDb Storyline  A boy accesses a magical world with the help of a heron.  Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Hayao Miyazaki for directing effort. Thank you to Producer Toshio Suzuki for making the film possible. Cast includes Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon Yoshino Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, and Takuya Kimura.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe? Yes. Thank you to all who made the production of this creative and remarkable Hayao Miyazaki film possible.  Look for the 'eye candy' of the animation. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

SUPERPOWER (Released to Video on Demand USA 2023)

 

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.6|5.0 Starsììì  Superpower—odd film—follows no known, definable documentary protocol. An audience may have great difficulty finding the purpose of making this movie, why Sean Penn is in the Ukraine, why the leader of the Ukraine writes the movie script, and why it stages itself mostly in safe places. It does not follow normal format for persons who are war journalists and does not seem very informative. The real reason seems hidden and may be has to be for reasons a general audience may not need to know at this time. The camera work is good. But know that only the last 30-50 minutes of this film seem to justify the effort and monetary investment for making the movie. Film Poster Courtesy of IMDb Storyline  Actor Sean Penn goes to Ukraine to investigate the progression of events in the Ukrainian-Russian war.  Additional Thanks Thank you to Director Aaron Kaufman and Sean Penn for directing effort. Thank you to Executive Producers Jesse Angelo, Marina Bespolov, Sasha Cherniavsky, Subrata De, Andrew Freston, Anthony Gudas, Katie Peck, Jay Rosenzweig, Fernando Sulichin, Chad A Verdi, Kate Ward,  and Co-Executive Producer Mitchell Worsoff for making the film possible. Cast includes Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andrii Yermak, Steven Pifer, Christopher Miller, Volodymyr Jerrmolenko, Alex Frishberg, Vitali Klitschko, and Iryna Matviyishyn.   Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Maybe. It is what it is. It seems to have no definable purpose and provides little after viewing discourse material. There is no power, no feeling of 'real' in the documentary. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

LOST SHEEP (Released to the International Christian Film Festival USA 2023)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 4.3|5.0 Starsìììì Lost Sheep—fresh, meaningful—uses stop motion paper figurines to tell a wonderful and compassionate story. This choice of animation lends to the short film's creativity. Don't pass this one over...it's completely worth its time and money investment. Film Poster Courtesy of IMDb Storyline  A three-legged black sheep realizes he is different and seeks separation from his flock. The shepherd values the black sheep and takes a dangerous trip to find it.    Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Lukas Rooney for directing effort.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Yes. This is a must see for fans of fresh, good feeling stories. This story has expansion written all over it.  WOW! What a WONDERFUL short film! Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers

THE COLOR PURPLE (Released to Theaters USA 2023)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì  The Color Purple—music messy—drops song and dance routines into scenes without coherent reasons for that delivery. Delineation between characters has not been rigidly established so that storyline confusion easily sets in. The first presentation of The Color Purple (1985) has heart and far exceeds the entertainment value of this 2023 remake. Audiences look for movies that are memorable and have impact. The 1985 The Color Purple movie establishes both qualities with its jarring realism. The richness of the story, The Color Purple, comes from its tapestry woven from the threads of exceptionally heart-breaking life events that over a lifetime come full circle to types of resolution and compensation.  Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia Storyline  A girl endures a harsh, abusive marriage. Another girl abandons her father's principles and causes life-long distress due to her life choices. Another girl 'finds' her sister's children. These stories interweave and overlap until the pattern, the outcome, comes full circle and meaning begins to establish itself as severe wrongs begin to be covered with a type of healing.   Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Blitz Bazawule, for directing effort. Thank you to Executive Producers Michael Beugg, Pete Chiapetta, Adam Fell, Carla Gardini, Mara Jacobs, Andrew Lary, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Andrew Tittanegro, Courtenay Valenti, Sheila Walcott, Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, for making the film possible. Cast includes Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Dannielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, Ciara, H.E.R., David Alan Grier.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. The 2023 movie is somewhat watchable but that watch-ability comes in noise and movement. The original 1985 movie bases itself in many colors that penetrate the soul.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers